Case Study

Supported Application Process – RISING

In 2020, Melbourne’s festival RISING (previously Melbourne International Arts Festival) ran an open-call application process for their first festival. While this was a commissioning process, it presented an interesting and supportive model of funding which allowed applicants to be paid for the development of their intellectual property.

The process was as follows:

• Stage 1: An open call where applicants were asked to submit a small pitch (100 words or short video) and a website link to display examples of work.

• Stage 2: Assessors selected a group of applicants out of the submissions who each moved to a second stage of the application process. In this stage they were paid a fee to develop their concept and delivery plan.

• Stage 3: Selected applicants were moved to a third stage of the development process where they were paid another fee to develop the work itself.

• Stage 4: Curators met the artists and viewed their works in development. Selected applicants were then curated into the final festival program. 

This model allowed for an application and assessment process where even if the project was not selected, the applicant was still supported for their labour time in the development of a creative concept and the process of applying. This model is a remedy for application burn-out in the sector.